[lbo-talk] Mirror neurons

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Sat Sep 1 08:25:53 PDT 2007


Chris Doss wrote:
> If these mirror neurons are supposed to enable both
> language and empathy, then why do many animals,
> lacking language, exhibit apparent empathy?

Empathy is the ability to understand what another entity is thinking and feeling. I've never come across a nonhuman animal that demonstrates this ability (and frankly, many humans don't demonstrate it either!). In fact, I'm not sure what would count as empathy in an organism that I can't talk to. How could we determine what a chicken or a dog thinks about what one of its peers is thinking and feeling?

Miles



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